Name __________________________________________ Date _____________ Energy in the Ecosystem WebQuest We’ve learned that all organisms need energy to survive. The primary source of energy for all organisms begins with the sun . Sunlight provides the necessary energy for producers (plants) to complete photosynthesis. Producers are organisms that get their energy from the sun. Primary consumers (herbivores) eat the producers. These herbivore consumers are eaten by carnivores or secondary consumers . Carnivores are consumers who only eat other animals. Consumers who eat both plants and animals are omnivores . Consumers who eat other consumers are known as tertiary consumers . These interactions can be represented by a food chain . A group of food chains in the same ecosystem put together can make a food web . Food chains and food webs show the flow energy from one organism to another. 1. What is a produ cer? _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 2. What is a primary consumer? _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 3. What is a secondary consumer? _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 4. What is a tertiary consumer? _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________5. What is a herbivore? _________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________6. What is a carnivore? _________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________7. What is an omnivore? _________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Arrows in a food chain and a food web show the direction that the energy is flowing. For example, in the food chain above, the energy flows from the sun, to the grass, to the grasshopper, to the shrew, to the owl. The arrows indicate the direction energy is being transferred with arrow pointing away from the eaten (prey or plant) and towards the eater (predator or grazer). 1a. Go to http://www.blueiceberg.com/rutgersfoodweb/food_web_game.html . Print your completed food web. 1b. Go to http://www.zephyrus.co.uk/foodpuzzlechain.html and complete the food chain “quiz.” Make sure to answer these questions as you go. [In other words, all of these questions can be answered by the information found as you work through this quiz.] a. Green plants make their own food, so they are called _______________________. b. What is a predator? ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ c. What is an example of a producer that fish could eat? ______________________________________________________________________ d. What is the general term for organisms that live in soil and fallen leaves on the forest floor? What is one example of them? ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 2. Go to http://www.sciencebob.com/lab/qwebchain.html and answer this question: What is the difference between a food chain and a food web? ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 3. Go to http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks2science.html#foodchains to answer these questions. This site will lead to a “title” page. Click on the green box that looks like a food chain. After reading through the introductory page that follows, click on the “next” button in the upper lefthand corner. a. Select “River” Habitat: Write out the food chain. b. Select “Woodland” Habitat: Write down the food chain. c. Select “Seashore” Habitat: Write down the food chain. 4. Go to http://www.vtaide.com/png/foodchains.htm to answer these questions. a. In any ecosystem, there are fewer carnivores than herbivores. Why? [Your answer needs to specifically include a description of how energy is transferred.] ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ b. Why would it be extremely rare to find a food chain with nine links in it? ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Energy Pyramids http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/science_up_close/314/deploy/interface.html Answer the following questions from the Energy Pyramid activity. Prairie a.) Grasses are ____________________. b.) Energy goes from the __________ to the __________ to the _______________________ in the ecosystem. c.) What if there were no coyotes in the ecosystem? ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Forest a.) Trees are _______________________. b.) Caterpillars are ___________________. c.) What eats caterpillars? ________________________________________________. d.) What would happen if there are as many birds as there are caterpillars in the ecosystem? ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Ocean a.) Plankton are ___________________. b.) How do krill get their energy? _____________________________________________________________________. d.) What if something happened to the bottom layer of the pyramid? ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
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